My Prequel Story
by PenguinAmiga
Summary: [hapyfeet] Second story, my prequel. Really quite fluffy. Flames will burn into nothing.
1. Heartbreak Hotel

For some reason, I'm fascinated by this pairing. I think it's cute, and there's a whole past to play with there! I refuse to believe that the Kiss was the first time these two met.

Chapter One: A Touch of Class

Memphis was always tall. As a baby he was about a head taller that all the others, and remained this way for the rest of his life. It was this unusual height that attracted Mrs. Astrakhan's attention in his first class at Penguin Elementary.

"Memmmm-phees! Have _you_ found a Hear-r-rtsonk yet?"

"Uh, I think so"

"Then sink darrlink!"

Memphis throat froze up. He was thinking "_How bad can it be? Every penguin has a song. That means me. I have a song, why am I not singing it?_"

"Um, Miss? Can I just have a little time to think of the words?" he blurted out, holding onto this excuse for dear life. Mrs. Astrakhan looked suspicious, but asked another penguin to sing first, nevertheless.

_D- D-_ahem. _Don't have to be… rich,_

_To be my pearl,_

_You don't have to be cool,_

_To rule my world,_

_Ain't no particular song I'm more compatible with,_

_I just want your extra time and your,_

_Kiss._

Memphis had intended to be plucking up courage during this song- not to pay attention. But this unknown female's voice made his heart beat faster and his head snap upwards to look at her.

"Luffly Norma Jean, luffly."

_Norma Jean _he thought, _I'll remember that. _He didn't have many friends, and wanted as many as possible. He became lost in his thoughts, playing her song over in his head when he got a nudge from his friend Maurice.

"Memphis? Are you okay?"

He snapped out of it to realise he had been staring wide-eyed into space with his beak slightly open. He shook his head violently, and mumbled "I'm fine, I just spaced out".

"Meeeeeeeemphees?"

"Yes, Miss, I'll sing now".

"Goot".

Norma Jean searched for the shy singer, but didn't have to look far. He was very tall, with dark amber eyes like her own. He looked around and she smiled when his eyes met hers. _It's okay, it's not so hard. You can do it. _She tried to convey this message in the smile, but he looked away too quickly.

_Well,_

_Since my baby left me, _

_I found a new place to dwell,_

_It's down at the end of Lonely Street at,_

_Heartbreak Hotel_

She tilted her head to one side, sizing up the song. _It doesn't sound great with a young voice _she reflected _but it will get better. _She gave him another smile, this one without a message, before facing the front to hear the next singer, little knowing that most of the males in her class would be her suitors.

After class, she approached him and said "Hello. I'm Norma Jean. I liked your song."

She knew she was blunt- she hadn't been alive all that long so as to develop a sense of subtlety and tact. He on the other hand was withdrawn, hiding emotions and thoughts, even if there was no reason to hide them.

"Thanks. Yours was nice too" he said quickly, the white feathers on his cheeks turning a little pink. _Just put your foot in your beak why dontcha? _He thought to himself, shuffling his feet. She barely noticed the blatancy and carried on the conversation. At the end, each penguin had found a new friend.

Very short chapter. I'll be posting the next couple in rapid succession. Next up- Graduation Day. Hope you like!


	2. Taking The Plunge

Chapter 2: Fatal Attraction

"He likes you!"

Graduation Day. Before it, all the males kick back and relax, while the females huddle together gossiping.

"Katia, I've never met anyone who has like me less!"

Norma Jean turned to face Katia, one of her friends. They were, as you can probably guess, discussing Memphis. "You'd make the perfect pair! You both…"

"Blah blah blah blah blah! He thinks he has such a great voice…"

"..He DOES have a great voice! Just cuz you haven't heard it in years!"

"…And he knows it.. Speaking of which, what's this I hear about Stevie liking _you?"_

"Yeah yeah, clever. Let's go get this Waddling Windbag thing over and done with, and then we can go swimming!"

Norma Jean and Katia, for once, stood still throughout the whole ceremony. She looked over at her parents at one point, who were looking unbelievably proud. She had been top female in her class, and chose to enjoy her moment.

"You first"

"Okay. Just as long as you're there already!"

"No way"

The classic graduation day plunge. Or Non-Plunge, as it were. Even Memphis was a little apprehensive, and the entire class was peering over the edge. Norma Jean was one of the last to arrive, eventually pushing her way to the very edge.

"It's now or never" she giggled humourlessly. She sprang off both feet into the icy blue depths. She swam out of the bubble cloud surrounding her, anxiously surveying the water around her. Her head eventually appeared at the surface.

"It's clear!" she called in a high, clear voice, before darting away into deep water, followed by a hundred teenage penguins cheering and whooping.

She did catch a few fish, but mostly torpedoed about at highest speed, narrowly missing many penguins. She careered off into an uninhabited corner of the territory, looking for something interesting.

"Promise you won't panic," came a shaky voice from her left. She saw Memphis, quite far off, but looking petrified. She never really took him seriously, but the expression he wore at that moment made her heart skip a beat.

"What's going on?" she murmured, just audible.

"Just come over here slowly. Or anywhere. Just go slow, and get back to the class". He nodded, speaking slowly and softly, barely moving his beak. So she drifted toward him, but barely got halfway when she heard the monstrous roar of a Leopard Seal.

"_Go!" _he screamed, prompting her to catch up, waving his fins about wildly. She screamed in sheer terror. This seal was quick, and it had almost reached her in a matter of seconds.

She darted this way and that, using up all the speed and agility she had. There was Memphis' frantic voice ringing in her ears the entire time, and in the distance, the screams of her classmates. _I can't die _she thought anxiously _I won't die. I'll do anything I can._

Suddenly, the roaring faded slightly, and she glanced backwards to see a small trail of blood leading away. "Huh?"

With a gasp, she was met with the sight of Memphis swimming towards a medium-sized iceberg, and the leopard seal with a small cut in its side. Her mind told her to get away, but instead she followed Memphis. She couldn't just leave him.

They did escape, jumping up onto the iceberg and reaching a higher platform, unreachable by their foe. "Next time" it growled, flopping back underwater.

"Oh My Gosh," Norma Jean gasped, leaning against the ice. She was gasping for breath, her face contorted with terror. She watched as the seal's dark shadow slipped away into the depths, and in a heartbeat, realised how close they had both come to being eaten alive.

Memphis was watching her with concern, as tears had begun to well up in her eyes and her posture had changed somehow. Her walk was stiff and straight, and when she turned to speak to him, her eyes seemed darker.

"You saved my life." She squeaked incredulously.

"What was I supposed to do? Watch you die?"

"No, but you stayed, and risked your life!"

"It's okay, really…"

"You don't like me!" she continued on in amazement, her voice rising in pitch with every sentence. "You detest me because you think I'm stuck-up…"

"…_You _detest _me_ because you think my ego couldn't be deflated by the Biggest Iceberg," He replied smartly. "I think you've got me all wrong. And for what it's worth, I don't think you're stuck-up."

And with that, he slid on his belly into the sea, speeding towards the Graduation-berg, but she didn't follow. She wasn't scared, but confused. Why? Why _him _of all penguins? Why did she dislike him so much in the first place?

He was self-centred, that's why! Wait, when was the first time she decided that?

Two years ago 

_Take my hand,_

_Take my whole heart too,_

_Coz' I can't help,_

_Falling in love with you._

Halfway through penguin school, Memphis had sung a solo during their first performance. She had to sing every second verse. But every time she practiced it, every time she sang these words he had thought up, he just _looked _at her, with unknown emotion on his face.

He was hiding something, and she knew that he didn't like the way she sang one of his songs. So she poured everything into practicing, and at the official performance, sang better than any other time in her life.

But he still had that expression, if not stronger. So she drifted away from the friendship, and that was it.

There's my second chapter. It's been swimming around my brain like a goldfish for AAAAAGES! (Get it? Water on the brain? Hahaha, No…) . Next chapter is the Graduation Performance.


	3. Just Can't Help

Greetings! Okay, a Graduation Duet, really very fluffy, but sometimes fluff is good when you don't wanna think too much…

Chapter 3: I Just Can't Help Falling In Love…

"He doesn't like my singing!" she hissed to herself "He doesn't have an ego, he just doesn't like my singing voice. Oooh, I'll show him!". And with that, joined the class as they congregated at the top of the huge iceberg.

One penguin named Glenda stepped forward and shouted "Our first graduation song will be sung by the two tops of the class…"

"Oh no…" came two tiny voices no-one else heard.

"Memphis and Norma Jean, will you sing for us?" she boomed in her low, rough voice, joined by cheering and clapping.

"No way!" was what Memphis said on the inside. On the outside, he simply nodded and stepped up onto the icy platform, closely followed by a still furious Norma Jean. "'Can't help' is it?" he asked, confirming her thoughts. It was the only song they both could sing together.

"Fine" she said emotionlessly and sang a few notes to open the song. Then…

"Wise men say,

Only fools rush in,

But I can't help,

Falling in love with you"

The melody came naturally now, she had sung it so many times. She turned away from Memphis, not wanting to hear his voice or even look at him.

"Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin?

If I can't help,

Falling in love with you"

For a second, Norma Jean stood there in a daze. _That _was the voice all of her friends raved about, and no wonder! It was like… water, but not cold. A wind, but not razor sharp. Ice, but soft… She watched as he sang the last line, and took up the next verse;

"Like a river flows,

Surely to the sea,

Darling so it goes,

Some things are meant to be."

She sang to the skies, but out of the corner of her eye, watched Memphis' expression. Nothing was hidden this time, but he had not been covering disgust after all. He seemed mesmerised by the song she sang. Then he joined her;

"Take my hand,

Take my whole heart too,

For I can't help,

Falling in love with you."

Then it was his turn to sing the bridge.

"Like a river flows,

Surely to the sea,

Darling so it goes,

Some things are meant to be."

Then there was utter silence. It seemed to go forever, and the whole time, the duet were the only two penguins for a thousand miles around. They just watched each other with identical eyes.

"Take my hand,

Take my whole life too,

For I can't help,

Falling in love with you."

For a moment there was nothing but a stunned silence. Memphis and Norma Jean were looking at each other, completely besotted. The class was watching the two with childish fascination. Although they had all come of age, they were still young, and never really pondered the thought of finding one's true love.

But this was different. These two barely even knew each other's Heartsongs, yet they were the perfect couple. Both had immaculate singing voices, and stood out from the crowd in their appearances.

One penguin in the back wisely decided to break the silence with a loud clap, and was joined by the other hundred-or-so. Memphis bowed and drifted back into the crowd, while Norma Jean sang a song of her own before doing the same.

Katia and the others waddled towards her.

"Gwah…."

" 'Gwah's' right! What WAS that? What happened to 'I don't like him coz he doesn't like me'?" Katia hissed.

"Caw."

"Are you suddenly unable to speak Penguin? Please say something with meaning."

"What did I just do?"

"You sang a romantic duet with Memphis and it's now obvious to most of the penguins on this iceberg that you're in love. When did this happen?"

"It didn't. It didn't happen. I performed with him, and heard his real voice for the first time. And I'm not in love!"

"Oh. Okay, you're just head over feet, right?"

"Y- NO!"

"Norma Jean!" came the unanimous reply from her five friends, looking somewhat shocked, yet fascinated. Katia sighed "At least you fell in love with his voice, there's still hope"

"Pardon?"

"Tomorrow's Heartsong Day"

The song being sung now was a soft, sad melody, personifying the feeling in her heart. She felt a pair of eyes watching her, and glanced up to meet them. Her chest ached with every breath and her heart beat like a drum.

Norma Jean closed her eyes and made a wish with all her heart that Memphis would be nearby when she began to sing.

I've developed a habit of making tri- chaptered stories. Meh, that's my style I guess. Hope you enjoyed. After this leads right into the movie, then into "…And your kiss" as an AU. Thanks for reading, please comment!!!

Mwa!


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